At the very least, lockdowns andthe lack of new contentprovide a good opportunity to finally catch up on the classics. Maybe now is the time to finally sit down and binge some of those great TV shows instead ofre-watchingSmallvillefor the 12thtime. Although what happens after those have been seen? With ‘Prestige TV’ recommendations, the same handful of shows get thrown around. Not everyone has seenThe Wire, but at least they have heard of it. It,The Sopranos, Mad Men, Breaking Bad,maybe evenFargo, are the regular ports-of-call in the Prestige TV landscape.
But there are other outstanding shows that hang just on the edge of these recommendations. Despite receiving plenty of accolades, they seem to have been forgotten. Yet these TV shows still live up to that same critical quality, and are definitely worth seeking out for their high-quality and complex meaning, if not for their legacy.
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Deadwood
AlongsideThe SopranosandThe Wire,Deadwoodwas theother acclaimed HBO seriesof the mid-2000s, which never quite gained the cultural legacy of the other two. But its followers will still contendDeadwood’s place as one of the greatest TV show of all time. Based upon the real-life settlement of Deadwood during the Gold Rush of the Wild West,Deadwoodis a show about a community slowly forming around the American frontier. It combined period-accurate clothing and vernacular with a wonderfully theatrical Shakespearean and vulgar speaking style.
Deadwoodnominally revolved around the conflict between honorable ex-Sherriff Seth Bullock (Timothy Olyphant) and nefarious Saloon-owner Al Swearengin (Ian McShane), but reallyDeadwoodis about the two men and the community coming together to make their camp function.Deadwoodalsofeatures legendary gunslingerslike Wild Bill Hickok (Keith Carradine) and Calamity Jane (Robin Weigert) coming to settle down, as modernity reaches across the horizon.Deadwoodwas infamously cancelled early after 3 seasons, but its devoted following culminated inDeadwood: The Moviein 2019 (13 years later), proving the show’s enduring appeal.
The Americans
The Americansbeing an overlooked show is appropriate for a series about two KGB Agents hiding in plain sight as suburban American couple Elizabeth (Keri Russel) and Philip Jenkins (Matthew Rhys). Set during the ‘80sCold War,The Americansis about professionalism versus personal choices, and how far people will go to serve their ideologies. Moreover, it questions the notion of nationality itself, and whether the Jenkins’ pretending to be the ideal all-American family actually turns them into one (and if this ideal was ever ‘real’ in the first place).
The Americansis also a spy show, dealing with espionage and high-adrenaline situations and numerous wigs. Yet beneath the grander political implications,The Americansis about the work that goes into marriage, with Elizabeth and Philip’s relationship complex and shifting throughout the seasons.The Americanswas never highly-popular of award-winning but kept on for 6 seasons, as everyone who did see it proclaimed its greatness, mirroring the dedication and loyalty shown within the show itself.
The Knick
Lead surgeon Dr John Thackery (Clive Owen) himself struggles with addiction, with cocaine and heroin widely proscribed as medicine in 1900.The Knickmakes such history feel visceral, with the surgery scenes particularly gruesome and intense, the life-and-death stakes being literally out in the open. All episodes ofThe Knickweredirected by Steven Soderberg, who brings experimental hand-held digital camerawork and a thumping EDM-inspired soundtrack to increase the immediacy. Soderberg recently stated a new season ofThe Knick, now helmed byMoonlightdirector Barry Jenkins, is in the works, so seek out this unsung masterpiece before it arrives.
Halt and Catch Fire
Much like howMad Menfollowed the shift in society and advertising through the 1960s,Halt and Catch Firedoes so with the late ‘80s computer-tech industry. Although its characters never become hugely successful, they all contribute towards anincreasingly computer-dominant society, assisting in personal computers, video games, online browsers and e-commerce sites.Halt and Catch Fireshowed the innovations in this nascent field, but always tied it back towards the designers and creatives who helped craft it.
These people include the Steve Jobs-esque entrepreneur Joe Macmillan (Lee Pace), and coders Cameron Howe (Mackenzie Davis) and Gordon Clark (Scott McNairy), whose wife Donna (Kerry Bishé) comes into the show with surprising contributions. These relationships are central to what makesHalt and Catch Firework so well, as although they sometimes clash, the show is really about how they all grow and learn from each other. Such maturity always feels earned and realistic, creating a fantastic portrait of the motivating power of friendship. Topped with phenomenal set-design and cinematography, much like the entrepreneurs within it,Halt and Catch Firenever quite broke out but contributed a lot.
The Leftovers
After co-creatingLostand before theaward-winningWatchmenTV show, Damon Lindelof made critically-acclaimedThe Leftovers, a series about when 2% of the world’s population suddenly vanished. This is not a show about solving how or why this ‘Departure’ happened. Rather, it’s about how people cope with grief and unknowable events, withThe Leftoversdropping in several more strange occurrences and dream-sequences. It’s not about if these events themselves are ‘real’, but rather howpeople construct conspiracy theoriesand grander meaning on what they cannot understand in order to make sense of the world.
The Leftoversmight appear unrelentingly grim, and admittedly its first season is particularly bleak. But during its second season,The Leftoversfinds unexpected story-turns, fantastic direction, and surprising humor. The characters become particularly endearing, like disgruntled half-crazed cop Kevin Garvey (Justin Theroux), and Nora Durst (Carrie Coon), whose husband and both children all vanished during the ‘Sudden Departure’. OftenThe Leftoverstakes an semi-anthology approach where each episode follows a different character, like Nora’s put-upon reverend brother Matt (Christopher Eccleston), or Meg (Liv Tyler), a recent member of the white-clothes-wearing, chain-smoking, mute, nihilistic cult ‘The Guilty Remnant’.The Leftoverswas a powerful memorial of those trying to reclaim people they’ve already lost, and a touching love-story between those left behind.
